Mid week musings, getting back in the saddle and some new loot.......

Good morning, still absolutely reeling from the last 10 days but have to say it feels great to be back in blogland. My son was supposed to, after 9 days of missed school, go back today but thanks to Mr. Snow who paid us an early visit, he is out yet again (he isn't complaining however)! I am soooo grateful to have a warm home, electricity food, my family and our health, all the things that really matter. I have so missed making my rounds and hearing from all of you. No rest for the weary though and I sprang into action all day and night last night catching up or at least scratching the surface and today is more of the same! I feel fortunate to even have some degree of "normalcy" back, many others are not so lucky.  Needless to say, there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done in the tri state area and I continue to keep all those in harms way in my prayers.

Who would have thought that within a 10 day period IN NOVEMBER, we would have endured a major hurricane AND a snowstorm! Yes, last night we were in a full fledged snowstorm......crazy! We have 4 inches on the ground to prove it. Seeing is believing so I even took a few quick pictures with my i Phone (the first four were taken as it started coming down)

 

A farm nearby gets covered in a blanket of white....kind of strange for November!

 

There's something wrong with seeing snow covered pumpkins!

 

This was a gas station that just opened with one tank of gas...the line was nearly a mile long!

And then this morning I woke up to.......

Teddy's body language is saying he has already had enough of this crazy weather and its just begun!

 

And its only early November:)

BULLYING Have spoken about this before but it never gets old and there is no such thing as talking about something too many times when it comes to bullying. Its a conversation we NEED to hear and hear often. The Bully project is a truly noble project. I am proud to say I have donated and supported the making of this courageous and long overdue documentary about bullying. Lee Hirsch was the champion behind this project and I cannot sing his praises highly enough.

While its such fun to blog about beautiful homes and rooms and fun decor and entertaining ideas,  the sobering reality is bullying is practically an epidemic that we as a society must have ZERO tolerance for. I have been blessed to not have had this personally affect me or my sons,  but my heart truly breaks for any child who has experienced the loneliness and isolation of being bullied. There are way too many stories of young children and teenagers taking their lives because of the desperation they feel from being bullied. One is too many.

 PLEASE all I ask is that you click on the movie above and take a look at the trailer. If it prompts just  ONE conversation between a mother and her child ( as it did me and my son) I will feel like I did my small part to help raise awareness. Ideally, it will motivate all of you to talk to your children, grandchildren or a child you feel close to. Knowledge is power and just because this might not be affecting us personally does not mean we shouldn't take an active role and stand. Please click here to visit the site and hope you will watch the short but unbelievably powerful trailer. I PROMISE you will not regret taking less than 2 minutes out of your day to watch a film that might prompt a conversation and ultimately change the fate for a young child. THANK YOU! Now we can talk about some fun and pretty things.........



Have gotten a few new cookbooks lately and am loving them. You might already have them/know of them but when somethings good, I love to share. Here are some of my recent faves......you can never have too many, right? 

This is officially my new favorite cookbook, it appeals to my Southern roots and the recipes are sensational!






This has some sinfully great recipes......special treats for when you want to indulge!

Super user friendly, great pictures and really wonderful recipes!



This is for when I am feeling REALLY ambitious...............hasn't happened yet but in due time!



House updates With the weather, just about everything is at a standstill but the patios have just started and that is VERY exciting! The biggest news however,  is my guest room. OH how I love it.....I am ready to move right on in! Its not totally done but getting there, got most of the pillows I had made, put some temporary lamps in there...and its soooo cozy. I am waiting to do the window treatments, a few more pillows, get the new duvet (this one is a temporary)  and the dust ruffle. Really loving how its coming along. Take a look.......(pics taken with iPhone, will take better ones again when the room is totally done)

 

STORE BIZ Have been working non stop since I got the internet back up to try and catch up on orders, inquiries and have new merchandise to talk about to boot!

1. For all the many who had inquired about the dough bowls right before the storm. I am getting in about 6 more of the smaller ones (20-24") and 3 of the bigger size, about 30" on average. There are simply too many names to email everyone so if you still want one, please email me and it will be first come first serve at this point. They are lovely!

 

2. For those who were interested in the candy/soap porcelain and ormolu dishes.......they arrived! They are even prettier in person. I am going to try to put them up over the next several days but if you are interested just email me. All styles and colors are below. Here is mine being put to good use. I love them, perfect for candy or a large guest soap bar or mini soaps.

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.  Round dishes

 

6.

 

7.

 

8. Oblong with handle

 

9.

 

10.

(ignore the styrofoam packing)!

 

11. Oblong

 

12.

 

13.

 

14. Round

 

15. Oblong

3. For the napkin ring lovers....all orders for Christmas MUST be placed no later than Nov. 20th to guarantee delivery by Dec.15th. I know this is going to be a popular Christmas gift as they are incredible special custom gifts so just bear in mind the dates. Click here to see them in my online store under new arrivals

A few recent new styles......

 

Stag deer (there are four styles)

Lab and pheasant

Flying geese

Proud peacock

Almost any animals can be made pulling the cart as shown here with squirrel and rabbit

4. Got a small delivery ( a welcome dose of pretty- much needed) from one of my favorite vendors of some of the one of a kind pieces. I will not be listing these under new arrivals since I literally only have one or two of each item. I have numbered them however so if you have an inquiry just refer to the item number. 

1. Large filigree tray

I got the gorgeous guest towel holders back ( I have six total)

 

1. Bamboo in silver ( I have 2)

 

2. Ant. brass filigree (I have 2)

 

3. Silver crown (I have 2)

 

4. Large oval garland tray with handles

Email me here with any inquires!

So that's about it around here. Going to be very busy this week trying to catch up on everything. Its been a really insane 10 days! I may not post again until the weekend, and I am supposed to be away this weekend so it might be Sunday or Monday. I think next week....everything, fingers crossed, will get back to normal!  I hope you are well, anyone else feeling  the Christmas rush yet? I have to admit I am  and its a little nerve wrecking. I am staring to see a lot of chatter about Christmas decor, sales, gift giving suggestions and while its all so beautiful its also a more than subtle reminder that I need to get busy!  I need to take a few days to just get everything together, catch my breath and start making my lists and checking them twice........

Wishing you a fabulous day!

                                          

I survived Sandy and I am back!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!!!

Hello my dear readers and fellow bloggers.....how I have missed being here, how I have dreamt of writing posts and sharing all the pretty things I love to gab about. How I missed visiting all of by blogging buddy's amazing blogs! There are no words to fully describe the last 10 days. Seriously its been surreal. I must preface this post however by saying for all the "hardships" I have endured, they are nothing compared to the thousands who lost lives, homes, everything they've got. Those are the truly tragic stories being heard around the world. In comparison, we are fortunate and absolutely counting our blessings. Don't think anyone could have predicted this to happen, no one thought for a minute that a hurricane could hit us and impact this area as it did.

We are all still reeling from the aftermath. To the many who asked if we had a generator, yes we did purchase a state of the art generator but its a whole system and it is one that requires a permit, which we figured we had plenty of time to do in preparing for the winter season ahead, never thinking we would have to worry in November! So we lost power for 7 days, were fortunate to get a room in a hotel about 30 min. away (my friends brother had the foresight to book a block of 10 rooms well before the storm) and was kind enough to let us take one. The tree damage was beyond anything I have personally ever seen in person. Monster trees, 100 year old magnificent trees.....crashed down like they were twigs. A very sad sight. Not only were the trees down, but the above ground wires were tangled, ripped apart like confetti all over the place. It was and still is unreal to me. Pictures cannot fully capture the devastation.

Finally after 8 long days, we got back partial power (about 60%) and finally the TV/internet service was restored today. But there are still many I know who have nothing, no power, no water, no cable...and are still camped out in hotels or bunked up with friends and family. There are new norms like waiting in gas lines for 2 and 3 hours (I have already done this several times) and know to bring reading material or something to occupy my time while waiting. You see a certain generosity and willingness to help in people that previously wasn't as evident. I got to a market today, and  when I went to look for potatoes and celery (to make soup) there was ONE potato left, a shriveled up reject which no one wanted. Not a stalk of celery to be had. Eggs were gone.And this was yesterday, 9 days after!! After being in a gas line for almost 3 hours right before my run to the market, I felt for the first time ever....what it must feel like to live in a third world country. I am talking  a big chain market......and both these incidences were certainly a first

Above all else, this experience has left me thinking about a lot of things. Namely that we are very lucky. That in the end, it's the comfort of family and friends who truly sustain us and are what matter most. Without our health and well being we are nothing. That we often surprise ourselves and what we can do or do without when given a "test" such as this. Imagine....no phones, no computers, no TV..and we survived! And possibly talked more as a family this last 10 days than we have in the last 3 months! I also learned that I really really missed my blog. Oh how I missed blog hopping and creating posts and sharing with you all!

I have A LOT of catching up to do. Tried to answer many of you via the hotel computer (to which I had to share with many others who craved a few minutes of the internet) Went to my husbands office yesterday to try to start catching up on store business and orders. I assure you I will be working around the clock until I am all caught up!

But one thing I really realized is how incredibly wonderful, kind and gracious my readers and fellow bloggers are. I was so touched by the outpouring of concern, the offers to help in any way needed from all of you. Seriously that really touched my heart and made me so eager to come back and here I am!  We are bracing for yet another storm today and tomorrow but a much milder one than Sandy. I am praying however for all those still without power, without a home, those who have lost a loved one, those still dealing head on with the devastation. I hope you too will keep the many who are still suffering in one way or another in your prayers too.

This post would not be complete without showing you some of the pictures I took of the storm aftermath. Again pictures cannot capture fully what happened but I think give you an idea........happy to be back and thank you all for your incredible concern and well wishes!

So heres a glimpse of some of the damage locally.......very little narrative as I think the pictures speak volumes.


The roads all around us two days after.............

 

 

 And around the house.......unfortunately we lost several major trees (think 50 feet and up) some that were 100 years old:(

 

Happy to see the birdbath still intact that was part of the original home

 

Leaning trees are everywhere!

Two very large trees fell like on either side of the original pool house

 

Seeing Teddy next to the tree gives the size some perspective

 

This monster tree fell periously close to the house!

 

Gas lines everywhere...2-3 hour waits even yesterday are the norm!

Driving is like being in a maze.....so many roads closed.

I promise to be back again hopefully tomorrow with a pretty post. I want this blog to remain a place to come to see the beauty in things. We all need an "escape" now more than ever! I know I plan on devoting a few hours this morning to staying in my robe, grabbing a cup of coffee and blog hopping and catching up on all I have missed! Thanks for stopping in, and hope to be up and running back to normal very very soon! Have a wonderful day.